by Roddy Murray
Paddy managed to sit them far enough apart in the chapel to avoid an outright fight and placed suitable Paras in between them just in case.
All in all there was a good turnout. As well as the wives and the bewildered children there were 20 or so exsoldiers and about 30 of Frank's clients who seemed to have genuinely liked him. A former commanding officer turned up to show his respects for a soldier who had saved his life, by all accounts, at the Divis flats during the troubles. There were two people who claimed he had saved their lives when they were suicidal, a smattering of staff from the local authority and some ex-girlfriends. Chief amongst these was a very attractive lady Paddy had never seen before. She introduced herself as Charlotte who had travelled all the way from Carshalton in London for dear old Frank.
"Frank and I go way back," she whispered into Paddy's ear as she arrived at the door of the Chapel.
"Well I never," thought Paddy. "He was a dark horse right enough."
The padre from the Parachute Regiment officiated and kept things light and positive as padres do. He majored on Frank’s strengths as a soldier, a boxer and someone who had had a positive influence on many lives both in the forces and in the world of health and fitness. While no saint, Frank had battled a lifelong addiction to alcohol with some success. Tragically he had lost this battle and had taken with him the lives of three innocent men. God was called upon to be as lenient as possible and it was over to Paddy to say a few words.
Paddy was used to standing in front of large crowds and speaking, but this took some doing. He relied heavily on his speeches as Frank's best man to put a positive spin on his dead friend. Frank had many redeeming qualities, most well hidden. He had indeed saved lives for sure. He had made unfit people fit. Ultimately though, he had succumbed to his weakness for drink. In a recently rare moment of drunkenness he had taken innocent life. In the end though, he had gone out in a blaze of glory as he had always wished.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Frank slowly became aware that he was lying in a hospital bed. He looked up at the ceiling and failed to recognise any of it. He turned his head with difficulty and noticed two gentlemen in very expensive suits sitting beside his bed.
They looked at each other once they realised he was conscious and the older one spoke slowly.
"I represent the interests of the major shareholders of Nebus Holdings Inc," he began. "I have been made aware of the rather unusual circumstances by which you find yourself here in Omaha. Indeed the rather unusual circumstances by which you find yourself in your present... physical form. It has to be stressed that none of the current major shareholders were aware or a party to any of the activities of their late relatives Daniel Bartleman or Doctor Robert Bartleman and as such accept no liability for their actions."
He paused to check that Frank was listening and understood. Frank managed a brief nod but even that hurt like hell.
Emboldened the lawyer went on.
"I have been authorised to offer you a settlement; a rather generous settlement, in return for your agreement not to take legal action against the corporation or current management of Nebus holdings. As part of that agreement Nebus has withdrawn from the areas of research which have led to this current situation. I have to also stress that this offer in no way suggests liability on our part. Should you reject it and choose to pursue redress through the courts we would vigorously deny your version of events. Let me be candid with you, Mr Chisholm, if I may call you that. Here in America the law is whatever you can afford it to be and we have very deep pockets."
Frank made no movement which the lawyer took to be an agreement of sorts.
"I have been authorised to offer you the following terms. In return for your..."
"Silence," the younger man finished the sentence impatiently.
"Confidentiality agreement," the lawyer corrected, "you will receive a salary of $500,000 index linked for life. The mortgage on your house, currently standing at $789,456 will be redeemed by the corporation, giving you full and unencumbered ownership. In addition all share options will be honoured giving you a potential profit at yesterday's closing prices of $1.4 million. As an additional incentive we are prepared to make a one-off payment of $5 million to you as full and final severance payment as you withdraw from the employment of Nebus due to health considerations. I do not expect an answer at this moment but the offer will stand for 48 hours only, to give you time to think it over. I advise you to take it and enjoy life."
The two men stood up as if they had rehearsed it and left the room. Frank drifted into unconsciousness again. He dreamed of steak-pie and chips, of parachute jumps and of Charlotte of Carshalton.
When he woke again a doctor was sitting next to the bed.
"Hello. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked before quickly adding, "don't try and speak yet, the surgery on your throat is too recent. It will be some time before you can speak properly again. For now a thumbs up will do."
Frank gave a weary thumbs up, completely unaware of what was happening.
The doctor continued. "The surgery to remove the tumors from both your back and your throat have been very successful. It is too early to say with any certainty but we are hopeful that you will make a full recovery in due course."
Frank had no idea now what the doctor was talking about but gave another thumbs up to humour him. It was at that moment that he realised the young man who had accompanied the lawyer, had returned and was again sitting beside his bed.
The young man nodded to the doctor who got up and left the room giving Frank a smile as he went.
"Okay Frank, let's talk turkey here. I'm Josh Bing and I've been brought in to run Nebus holdings. I've dug into what happened under the previous management and ownership and I have to say it ain't pretty. You were sold a dummy by Daniel and Robert Bartleman who set you up to take over Blaine McCoard's aging hulk. But they shafted him too. Yes, he had cancer, but it wasn't as bad as they told him. Dan got some of his intelligence contacts to alter the results of his tests before they went back to the corporation doctor, Zelnik. Blaine thought he was dying and they sold him a story about some exairborne dude with money problems who believed he could beat the cancer with exercise and diet; enter one Frank Chisholm. Truth was, Blaine was a dry run for old Daniel to take over some younger schmuck’s body and live forever, or at least longer than the normal span.
"All goes well with the switch but you get wise to it and do a runner. The scene at the hotel in Glasgow, England, was carnage but there are no further enquiries being carried out. Therefore, we are where we are. You are alive and likely to make a full recovery in Blaine’s body. Blaine died in your body and you got the blame of that. There's nothing we can do there. I believe your pal Paddy gave you a lovely send off. The Blaine McCoard we need is effectively dead and therefore cannot run the company. Enter yours truly.
"Daniel and Robert Bartleman are also dead and their considerable holdings in Nebus fall to a total of 13 named members of the extended Bartleman family who cannot believe their luck. My job is to ensure an orderly closure of the previous management’s activities and a smooth transition to the new owners’ desire which is bucket loads of dividends and no hassle. I can do that but I need to know that you are safely out of the picture with no intention of rocking the corporate boat."
He stared at Frank who stared back. After a moment Frank gave him the thumbs up signal. Why not, this had to be a dream or a nightmare.
Josh smiled: "I knew you'd see sense. Things ain't looking too bad for you anyway. I'll be back tomorrow with Cohen the lawyer and you can sign the paperwork, one copy in each name for safety’s sake. Till then take it easy."
Josh Bing stood up and left the room. Frank lay there vaguely wondering what was next. He tried to think through everything that had happened but couldn't fight the fatigue and drifted off to sleep. This time his dreams were troubled. Rooms with bloody corpses all covered in bandages like the Mummy returning with its extended family. Drunken fights, bizarre ta
xi drivers and Americans everywhere.
When he next regained consciousness he could see a pretty blond woman of perhaps 40 sat next to him. When she noticed he was awake she put her finger to her lips.
"Don't try and talk honey," Beth said. "Your throat ’s gonna be sore for a while yet. I'll talk and you just listen. Josh told me they’re going to pay you off on health grounds but it sounds like we'll be fine financially. I want you to see it as a chance to spend more time at home with me and the kids."
Frank stared at the woman holding his hand and decided spending time with her might not be too bad an option. She must have been stunning in her 20s because she was a beauty still in her 40s. He smiled at her out of habit and she smiled back and leaned down to kiss him.
"Kids, kids, daddy's awake now."
At the edge of his vision two children appeared and each gave him a kiss on his cheek in turn. They placed cards and flowers on his chest and smiled down at him.
"Clara has joined the drama club at school and Daniel is aiming for the soccer team. Now you'll be at home all the time you can train him for the team."
Frank looked at the kids as they looked down at him. Looked like he was going to have time at last to spend with kids. Not his kids admittedly, but they didn't know that. He even had a kid of his own called Daniel to play football with. More importantly, he would have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life which was also looking a longer proposition than it had before. Maybe things weren't looking so bad after all. In time he could get this old body back into some kind of shape. The challenge of that he could actually enjoy.
At that point the doctor reappeared and insisted that the family left to allow Frank to rest. Beth insisted the children kissed him again then sent them out to the corridor. Once they were safely outside she kissed Frank full on the lips. Her hand slipped under the covers and caressed his crotch.
"Hurry home honey. I'll be waiting for you," she whispered before kissing him again, giving him a filthy wink and leaving the room.
Frank lay there trying to take everything in. As far as everyone was concerned Frank Chisholm was dead. He was Blaine McCoard to most people here in the states and those who knew otherwise wanted to go along with that viewpoint. On offer was a barrel load of money, the attentions of this sexy wife and the love and affection of two adorable kids. He struggled to come up with a downside to all this after what he had recently faced. He drifted off again and had happy dreams of playing football with two young boys, both called Daniel, barbecues in a backyard somewhere and children performing Shakespeare.
When he next came to he looked up into the eyes of the America beauty from the Nebus canteen in Scotland. Now he knew he was dreaming.
"Don't try and talk Blaine, just listen to what I have to say. I know that you were tricked into thinking you would die of cancer and I know that affected your judgment. I love you but I could never be the cause of breaking up what you have with Beth and the kids. I could never forgive myself for that. But whatever happens I want you to know that I'll be there for you. Even if it is only a stolen moment together once a month or once a year I'll be there waiting for you. That's all I can hope for and it's more than I deserve."
He smiled and gave her a thumbs up which seemed to cover everything here. She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. Then she put her finger to his lips as he tried to speak, then bent down and kissed him passionately full on the lips. Again he felt a hand stroke his crotch. Then she smiled and left the room.
Frank lay there stunned slowly taking everything in. He was no longer destined to die. He had woken up with money for life, a beautiful wife and kids, a house bought and paid for and now the most beautiful woman in the world, waiting patiently for his phone call to arrange a passionate get together whenever he felt like it . Oh yes. Many things had changed over the last few weeks but one thing held true. Big Frank "the tank" Chisholm was still on a roll.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven